The purpose of this K01 proposal is to provide the principal investigator, Dr. Julie Patock-Peckham, with training experiences that will allow her to succeed as an independent investigator conducting R01 funded projects. Dr. Patock-Peckham is a recognized expert in the study of trait impulsivity and impaired control over drinking using survey-based methods. The training experiences outlined in this proposal would allow Dr. Patock-Peckham to expand her skills to include experimental alcohol self-administration studies and integration of biological markers of response to alcohol in her future work. The mentor for this K01 award, Dr. William Corbin, is an expert in alcohol self-administration studies with a well established NIAAA funded program of research examining individual differences in alcohol response and their relations to risk for heavy drinking and related problems. Dr. Patock-Peckham will receive training in human alcohol self-administration study techniques, behavioral tasks associated with impulsivity, physiological measures such as cortisol, as well as measurement development and advanced statistical training. These skills will enable her to increase the sophistication and impact of her work on impaired control over alcohol use, and facilitate her ability to apply new knowledge on impaired control to the development of novel prevention and intervention approaches. The studies conducted through the K01 award will address the role of contextual and intrapersonal influences on impaired control over drinking (IC) reflecting dysregulated drinking beyond pre-existing self-imposed limits. The primary contextual influences of interest include a priming dose of alcohol and a social stressor. Both have been shown to impact within session drinking behavior, but neither has been examined using an impaired control paradigm and no prior study has examined the interactive effects of a priming dose and a social stressor. Contextual influences on IC will also be addressed through innovative measurement development. Dr. Patock-Peckham will work with her mentor team to develop a new context specific trait measure of IC. The proposed studies are innovative in their focus on intrapersonal characteristics including cold and hot executive functioning (EF) assessed through self-report and behavioral measures, and cortisol response to stress. Individuals with trait (baseline) deficits in Cold EF (e.g. working memory, behavioral control) are expected to be particularly sensitive to the effects of a priming dose. In contrast, individual with trait hot EF deficits (e.g. affective processes involved in risk taking) are expected to be particularly sensitive to the effects of a social stressor on IC. State (post priming dose/social stressor) Hot and Cold EF will also be examined as potential mechanisms through which priming and stress, respectively, impact IC. Efforts to understand the conditions under which IC occurs and the mechanisms through which contextual influences impact IC is highly significant as the results may lead to development of novel prevention/intervention approaches targeting IC or tailoring of these approaches to the unique needs of individuals experiencing IC.